The Empty Mansion
by Professor Scarlet Talbot
Summary: AU: Lilly wasn't the one killed. A different Kane was killed, and it will change everything.


**Author's Note: **I don't own Veronica Mars. This chapter is kinda a preview for now. I'm not sure where this is going yet.

My name was Veronica Kane, the third and youngest child of Jake Kane. You've no doubt heard of him, the tech billionaire and undisputed king of Neptune. I was murdered last night, and other than my killer, you are the first to know. Don't worry, before the day is over you'll see all the gory details in the news and everyday after until a bigger story comes along. Don't get confused, this isn't my story, but the story of my family and their search for my unknown killer.

Let me introduce you to some of the key players. You've probably seen them in the tabloids. The light haired, distraught man holding back the sobbing, hysterical woman is Dad. The woman he's holding is obviously my mom who's trying to get to me. ("Not my baby!") They've just discovered my body after returning from their trip to New York. They didn't expect to find my bloodied, hours-dead body waiting on the stairs. Clarence, the man on a cellphone behind them, is Dad's head of security, and he's currently calling the sheriff.

The screeching tires you hear outside probably belong to a yellow monstrosity driven by Logan Echolls. He was my boyfriend, and having not heard from me in twelve hours, he is probably frantic to find me. He's like that. My brother Duncan is no doubt at he's side and just as concerned as Logan. They're best friends and were at Logan's last night having a poker night which was unbroken by me. I never showed up to reprimand them for their drunken stupidity before joining the game.

Thankfully, C.W. (Clarence) intercepts them at the door. Duncan is frozen in place, but Logan bursts through, fearfully shouting my name. As he looks upon my body, I can see in his eyes that he'll never forgive himself. He falls to his knees sobbing, and Dad, dragging Mom with him, goes to comfort his "other son".

There's no way to be sure when Lilly will be home, she had a hot date last night. Clarence will have someone out searching for her to bring her home. She won't take this well. Lilly may be the beloved 09er princess with a legion of "friends" in her court, but I was her only sister. We were going to rule the world together.

Across town another player has returned to Neptune, at the Camelot Motel, a blonde woman checks in. At least being dead means I won't have to deal with her. It was hard enough having Jake Kane as a father, but throw in my mother sweeping back into town every other year trying to back up my parent's marriage, talk about a disaster. You see, I was the Kane Bastard, the illicit child born of my father's short lived affair with his high school flame.

Once he learned Mom, my stepmother Celeste, was pregnant with Duncan, the affair swiftly ended, obviously not before I had been conceived. My birth mother, Lianne Reynolds, didn't take it well and attempted to use her own pregnancy to steal my father away. Her actions enraged him, and he responded by fighting for sole custody before I was even born citing her struggles with the bottle. ("We're talking about my child, not a bargaining chip!") Needless to say, the second I was born I was whisked out of her arms and into Mom's. Surprisingly, despite the circumstances surrounding my birth, Mom immediately considered me her own. Though I was closer to Dad, I had a good relationship with her.

Keith Mars, the sheriff, has arrived. That was quick, he must have been nearby. He looks at my father with disgust before he sees my body. Let me clarify the sheriff's problem with my family, Mars was engaged to Lianne when the affair began. In the years since, she hasn't been around enough for him to exert his anger onto her. The disgust fades into shock at the sight of my dead form. He was obviously expecting some sort of domestic problem, not a dead 15-year-old heiress. Mars may hate Dad, but he offers a sympathetic glance in Dad's direction for my parents' loss. He instructs one of his deputies, Lamb most likely, to escort everyone outside. The expression on his face as he moves closer to me screams, "No one should feel the pain of losing a child." By the time the coroner arrives, I've been dead for almost sixteen hours, and the news of my death hits the internet less than five minutes later.


End file.
